10 Iconic Cop Characters in Bollywood

Portraying a cop on screen is never an easy task. It takes a lot of hard work and patience to make the character look conventional and realistic and to maintain the continuity of the character throughout the film. But there are certain exceptions who triumph above all odds and make the role worth remembering. Below are some of the most iconic cop characters ever essayed in Bollywood.

1. Inspector Ajay Singh Rathod- Sarfarosh

It’s a well known fact that Aamir Khan chooses his roles wisely and this character of a medical student turned police officer is regarded as one of his best till date. He leads the fight against the terrorists who killed his brother and it was the first time that we saw him play a role with such nonchalance and maturity. This role truly gave us an insight of how versatile Aamir Khan is and the character of the revengeful, angry, and gritty cop truly adds to his roles to-remember kitty.

2. Inspector Bajirao Singham - Singham

Singham’s character of a gritty, truthful and a no nonsense cop came out as a winner amongst the audience. Ajay Devgn did full justice to his role of an inspector who leads the attack to a corrupt politician. The attitude Devgn carries throughout the film as a fierce cop is definitely commendable. The dynamic collaboration of Rohit Shetty- Devgn has always proved to be effective at the box-office and Singham was no exception as well as it went on to set the cash registers ringing ever since release.

3.Inspector Vikram Rathore - Rowdy Rathore

Akshay Kumar never fails to impress and entertain his fans and this film was certainly a massive crowd pleaser. The Khiladi features in a double role, one of a small time con and the other of a fearless top cop. In the film, when the character of the police officer dies, the con man steps into his shoes and fights the villians in his own style. Be it the slapstick dialogues or the quirky dance moves, Rowdy Rathore was an out and out masala entertainer.

4. Inspector Vijay Khanna - Zanjeer

The talismanic character portrayed by the original angry young man of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, is one of the most iconic characters that we have seen on screen. The way Amitabh Bachchan transferred his personality and aura into the character of the inspector was quite remarkable. The character of Vijay Khanna demanded someone new and at that point actors were not too keen on playing a cop on screen. Playing a demanding role like this in which the character is in a constant dilemma with himself screamed for an actor like Amitabh Bachchan and boy did he deliver.

5. Inspector Samar Pratap Singh- Shool

In this drama, Manoj Bajpayee’s performance of a patriotic and a honest cop helped him bag the Filmfare Best Actor (Critics) Award. Usually, when actors portray a police officer in a film, they follow a certain mannerism and attitude. However, Manjoj Bajpayee’s character Samar Pratap Singh was more of an emotionally driven policeman. Being the terrific actor Bajpayee is, we couldn’t imagine anyone doing more justice to the role.

6. Inspector Sangram Bhalerao- Simmba

Simmba has Ranveer Singh playing an inspector for the first time. Judging from the trailer, we can make out that his character transforms from a corrupt police officer to a ruthless cop who makes sure no one gets away with their crimes. Ranveer breathes life into the character with his energy. The actor also looked pretty badass in the trailer and fans have eagerly been waiting to watch him slay as a cop on screen ever since. The film has released today, and as expected, people are going gaga over Ranveer.

7. Inspector Shivani Shivaji Roy - Mardaani

Rani Mukerji’s Shivani Shivaji Roy came out as a valiant effort by her and it perfectly defined that apart from the latkas and the jhatkas, women can also stand as a strong personalities and fight for themselves against the world. Rani plays a bold and a strong character who locks horn against a child trafficking racket run by a mother-son duo.

8. Inspector Chulbul Pandey - Dabangg

Chulbul Pandey proved to be a mass puller and broke the stereotype of a police officer that we had witnessed in Bollywood over the years. Salman Khan’s Pandey came out to be a slick, loud and a stylish cop which was liked by his fans and created a havoc at the box-office. Khan’s Chulbul Pandey struck a chord with not only the general multiplex audience, but with the single screen movie goers too. The self-proclaimed Robinhood had various shades to his character; be it the Romeo in love or the hard-hitting cop, this Pandeyji was definitely worth the seetis.

9. IG Meera Deshpande - Drishyam

Tabu plays a cop and a mother who has lost her son in Drishyam. She constantly switches between the two roles with utmost poise and her experience in the trade is pretty prominent as we could not have imagined any other actress playing IG Meera Deshpande in the film.

10. Inspector Arjun Singh - Satyamev Jayate

Satyamev Jayate was the first cop film ever of Vinod Khanna. He played the character of a ruthless inspector who tries to solve the murder of a young boy. Vinod Khanna was exceptional in the portrayal of a police officer and his performance was met by praise from critics as well as the audience.